Category: economy

Slow Motion Train Wreck

Like most things, my words can’t do actual events justice. I’ve now seen a number of things at council I’m thankful I didn’t miss. This is a brief account of the most recent one.

The city Housing Coordinator Andre Caron is a “rock star.” He has been instrumental in removing dilapidated properties from Berlin streets, he has been aggressive in going after federal and state funds, and partnered with Joe Martin, the code enforcement officer, he has been making noticeable changes throughout the city. Phenomenal changes, in fact, the kind of changes Berlin has to increase exponentially to build a viable future.

At the council meeting on Monday Councilor Michael Rozak brought out a list of properties TKB Properties, the city’s private partner in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, bought on the East Side since the program began. He had a number of concerns: about the targeted approach of the company, about the properties they were buying, and about the mortgage amounts. I had put my notebook away because it was the end of the night and the next item was adjournment, so I missed direct quotes of his comments, but suffice to say he didn’t sound impressed with the NSP. He said TKB seemed like it had something else going on here, beyond just rehabilitating properties.

It was a direct attack on the NSP, with a spreadsheet and allegations of cooking books. Mr. Caron’s face got pretty red as Councilor Rozak spoke, and it was clear he didn’t like what he was hearing.

And then Councilor Remillard stepped in.

Councilor Remillard is what I would call the swing-vote on the council. She does not seem to be standing on one side of the fence or the other on most issues: she was the only councilor who voted on the city seal willing to revisit the discussion, and she doesn’t seem vehemently in favor of Laidlaw or opposed. She is as close to a middle ground member as the council has, I suppose, and I’ve become accustomed to her rather accommodating manner.

But on Monday she acted with passion, something I don’t think I’ve ever seen her do. She  jumped to Mr. Caron’s defense, listing off the benefits of the work he has done and what this project will do for the city. The renovated buildings will bring up the values of every property in the neighborhood, she said, and no one else would touch these eyesores without federal assistance. The idea that this is anything but a positive is wrong, she said, and any moves that could possibly derail the effort would be against the city’s interest. She championed his efforts for five minutes, and she scolded Councilor Rozak for bringing these issues up in such a way that could possibly scare the public. It seemed he found the issue she is passionate about.

Mr. Caron said he was supposed to sign the paperwork for the program tomorrow, but after comments from the mayor and several councilors he was concerned the program didn’t have their support.

I sat at the press table with the reporter for the daily paper and we kept looking at each other. I’ve been reporting on this program for a year, and she’s been doing it for even longer. This program is a godsend for Berlin, and if the city could get four more programs like it it wouldn’t be too much.

The city received $4.3 million, mostly to rehabilitate properties no one wants. The renovations will occur in targeted areas, and they will take place through a public/private partnership with TKB Properties. Eventually these properties will go back on the tax roles, somewhere most of them haven’t been for years. I’ve been writing and writing about this, and after every story I am blown away by how much Mr. Caron has been able to leverage for the city.

Mr. Caron was visibly agitated as he responded to the pointed questions, but luckily there were more voices in support of his efforts than in opposition. The mayor, Councilor Rozak and Councilor Ryan Landry pushed him, but Councilors Robert Danderson, David Poulin and Tom McCue sang his praises and defended the program. The rock star quote is direct from Councilor Poulin.

But it was Councilor Remillard who made the real impression. She wasn’t going to stand by to watch the council dismantle the NSP. She was ready to fight, and she stepped up the moment it looked like Mr. Caron’s years of work were about to evaporate. She made a plea that rallied the council, and though there were only three people in the audience (Mr. Caron being one of them, and Bobby Haggart being another) she turned the tide of rhetoric from opposition to support for Mr. Caron. Before she spoke it was like watching a train wreck. I could see Mr. Caron getting flustered, and it seemed his work was about to get ripped apart.

The crash, however, was narrowly averted. Thank  you, Conductor Remillard.

Solitary Shacks on the Ice

Winter is back. I had to pull a tree off U.S. Route 16 on my way to Errol today, and a van was off the road in Milan. The slop on the road is likely to increase over the next few days too.

My energy is split between town meeting day coverage and Laidlaw developments. The SEC hearings are likely going to dominate the coverage for the next eight months at least. If things go longer (as they can if the committee wishes) I’ll have to look at renting an apartment in Concord. That’s a monster drive, and I have a feeling I’ll be doing it quite a bit soon.

I did a fair bit of driving today, between Glen, Berlin, Errol and back. I’ve got a bit more scheduled as well before this day is over. But the only parts of it that have more than two lanes are a short stretch up to Pinkham Notch and Route 16 north of U.S. Route 2 into Berlin. I have heard the constant commentary that if Berlin were on a major thoroughfare, such as a spur from Interstate 93, the economic conditions would be different. Undoubtedly so, but I would certainly be less interested in driving around for hours. The character of the area, which local residents care about more than their property taxes, would be devastated if that happened.

I realized it the last time I went to Concord for the CPD pre-hearing—every town is slathered in sprawl. The highway attracts it, and while it is development, I am skeptical it is the type Berlin needs.

The Gorham Wal-Mart provided jobs and taxes, but people also blame it for driving the Shaw’s Supermarket out of business. Now residents make a 45 minute trek for a real grocery store. And while finding tenants to fill a storefront on Main Street may be tough, it’s a breeze compared to filling the empty Shaw’s plaza.

Berlin is different, and it needs to stay that way. There is an Irving gas station, a Rite Aid pharmacy, a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Family Dollar; other than that, all the development is local. Further south the local hardware stores have been driven to bankruptcy by Lowe’s and Home Depot. Not in Berlin: Caron Building Center and White Mountain Lumber are still in business. Chain gas stations are the rule, not the exception in the rest of the country; in Berlin you can still buy from Munce’s. And what’s critical is that these companies are owned by families with roots in the community. They are willing to invest here, even when times are tough.

It is important to determine how Berlin and the rest of Coös County want to develop.

“If we want to have commercial development in the community it’s going to have to come from within,” Mayor Paul Grenier said at Monday’s council meeting. He was speaking in reference to the Binette family’s efforts to renovate the Bartlett school and turn it into dormitories, but the sentiment is true beyond this one case.

Would resident celebrate the opening of a Lowe’s? They would bring jobs, but at what cost? Berlin is in a tough spot—it needs development, but only of a certain kind. The economy is fragile in Coös County, but it hasn’t been eliminated. The prospect of development has to be balanced with the specter of routing what business have survived.

Two of the candidates running for the open Gorham selectman seat said they would like to see increased development on the Berlin/Gorham Road. That is a mixed blessing, and it could mean Berlin suffers. It might also mean Gorham suffers. The Wal-Mart in Gorham has doubtlessly affected area businesses. The impact is mixed because lower prices that are good for consumers hurt competitors. But such large developments requires a long range view, and a view that looks beyond one town.

When I travel around the north county I am struck by how spectacular the landscape is, how rooted the communities are, and how passionate the resident are. But I am also surprise at how disconnected it all seems. For a “region,” Lancaster seems a long way from Berlin. Randolph is a light-years away from Pittsburg. But these issues are Coös’, not just one towns. Pave a highway to Berlin? It’ll destroy not just Berlin, but every community it crosses. Line the streets of Coös with big box stores and McRestaurants and it will extinguish the untapped draw sits just below the region’s surface.

The region needs to think like a region, act like a region, and respond like a region. Whether it is branding, economic development or education, the North Country communities are on footing too tenuous to disregard one another. While efforts to herd cats pale compared to New Hampshirites, the region can’t affort to all pull in different directions. I think of the dispute between the commissioners and the branding initiative—personalities and egos almost derailed efforts to build a new future. The region has assets, which, when all joined together, are capable of standing on their own. But the infrastructure isn’t there yet for any community to go it alone. In the end, people have to admit this is a region, and one community’s rash decisions can’t be allowed to pave under the assets everyone in Coös County is counting on for their future. One economic base for the region has already disappeared. No one wants to see another one go before it has even had its heyday.

Positivity Projects and Researching Stories

I’ve been deep in Northern New Hampshire lately. Deep enough I almost got lost.

I love covering Berlin and the surrounding communities. It is such a switch from working in other communities, where people barely recognize you the third time you meet them and pedestrians walk down the street with a thousand mile stare.

Coös County deserves better—that’s what a candidate for Gorham selectman told me the other day. I agree, but I’m not sure there is someone to blame for its failings. The industry that supported the community went into decline 40 years ago, and what’s left is the shell that is there now.

But it isn’t just a shell. Berlin and Coös are down, but they aren’t out. My reporting has worked to do two things: inform residents about critical issues and highlight the positive. But there are so many critical issues sometimes it overwhelms my reporting. As I’ve said before, there ought to be a dozen reporters covering just Berlin/Gorham, and then maybe all the news that’s fit to print would get out there.

I’m looking into a side project that might get a bit more of that positive coverage out there. It sounds great to me if I can get it together, and it would create a bit more of the type of stories people always say are missing from the paper. (Honestly, they aren’t missing, but people notice the negative stories and glance over the positive ones. Oh well.)

The future of Berlin, and maybe the region in its entirety, are at a crossroads. What happens if the Fraser mill shuts down? If Groveton doesn’t find something to subsist on? If the economy continues to decline throughout the region? What happens then?

I don’t see that as Coös’ future, however. There are more good developments around the region than bad ones, and the attitude is changing to one of progress. I will admit there are divides in how to move forward, but there is no one who doesn’t look at the current situation and see it as untenable. So what’s next? How can the region stop talking and start moving.

I first thought Roger Brooks was selling a monorail in Springfield (check your Simpson’s trivia if you missed the reference). After listening to him, however, it is clear he knows what he’s talking about. He said the business community needs to take its future into its own hands instead of relying on politicians to do something. After watching the pitched battle that was Berlin’s municipal election, and as I prepare for town meeting day, I couldn’t agree more. Coös residents have to create their own solutions, not just complain about their problems.

And they are. Steve Binette and his family are buying the former Bartlett School to turn into student housing. Talk about members of the community pitching in to resurrect the city. This is exactly the effort the city needs.

I’m working on a project of a similar scale. It will lock me into the region for quite a while, if it happens, and point my energy more directly at changing people’s minds about the county. It would be aimed outside the region, however, rather than in.

If you’re concerned that means I might be leaving the Reporter don’t worry; I have no intention of giving up my fabulous job. I have yet to figure out how this will all work (if it can), but I love the reporting I am currently doing. Think of the project as an expanded, targeted LPJ blog, but with only the good and none of the bad. Normally I would call such a thing Public Relations (shutter), but when the goal is community revitalization and development I can relax the rhetoric. It would basically be finding all the stories I can that are the gems of Coös County, and pooling them in one place. I’m not sure how it will work, but it’s an interesting idea.

In the meantime, there is a lot of political maneuvering and such going on, particularly in reference to energy. There are stories there that aren’t positive or negative but certainly need to be told. I don’t intend to slack off my reporting of those issues. The PSNH/FERC story was a great find, one for which I got several compliments, but that type of reporting is HARD TO SUPPORT. There aren’t the resources around the North Country to consistently do it. Heck, there aren’t the resources around the state or even country to consistently do it. I like that type of research, but I also have to cover every other thing going on in the community, and it takes time. The daily paper runs into the same problems. When it comes to the failures in reporting around the region it isn’t the fault of the reporters; it has more to do with the economic model newspapers are predicated on. Paper just isn’t made in the U.S. anymore, and newspapers just can’t sustain a real staff anymore. Luckily the reporters around Berlin care as much as they do, and they have the support they do from their editors, because otherwise the outlook would be incredibly bleak. Until there is a new model discovered/created/invented it isn’t going to get much better. For now, however, I know the people doing the work up there are doing the best they can with inadequate resources. Sounds like the rest of the region, huh? But like everything else up there, what people get for the money spent is pretty remarkable. Berlin and Coös County aren’t broken; they have a future yet. The papers, both the daily and the Reporter, are going to be more than part of that future—they will be critical drivers of it.

Not Alone

Berlin isn’t the only community trying to figure out how to move forward from an industrial past; check out this report from NPR‘s Morning Edition. There is some discussion about what other towns have done with former industrial sites, but they are all considerably larger than Berlin. The problem of mill sites occurrings nationwide, as does the split in residents’ opinions on the best way to deal with it.

At least the stack in Berlin isn’t 800 feet tall. The mayor’s perspective in El Paso reminds me of the city seal argument in Berlin.

Let me know of your thoughts on El Paso’s challenge. Maybe Berlin can learn from their struggles.

Updates All Around

I did a quick update to the header over the weekend, for two reasons: one, people who didn’t know what it was said the mill looked phallic, and two, the argument continues in city hall over the implications of the mill on the city seal, and I’d rather not get in the middle of it with my header. Some people in Berlin don’t want to be known for the mill, and some do. I can go either way, so I’ll opt for the less controversial option.

The header still needs work, but I like it. I’d appreciate any feedback you’ve got, on the site or the header, or, as always, on the goings on in Berlin.

Speaking of the goings on, I spent a good chunk of Friday at the PUC building in Concord listening to petitioners and CPD argue about CPD’s proposal. A bit of Berlin was down that way for the hearing too, and there were some interesting discussion. CPD said it would be fully bonded, so that once construction started they would have the money to finish it, even though the city hadn’t insisted on it. Mayor Grenier asked the SEC to respect the local process, which he said did a good job vetting this project. He also raised some interesting points about the Fraser mill, and who could support its longterm viability. Neither CPD or Laidlaw could, he said, because their fate is approaching rapidly. They have weeks, not years, to find a path forward, he said.

That seems right on. It appeared a bit of a dig to the arguments CPD was making about how review would delay them coming to rescue Fraser, but it’s unclear what anyone can do to make the plant viable. I don’t know about wood, paper or the industry, but paper companies don’t seem long for the Northeast. I hope someone can change that, but I’m not holding my breath.

My wife and I were discussing what the future for the county could become last night, and what methods could resurrect the region. Can that growth happen locally, I asked, or does it have to be imported?

I grew up in a small town in a small state, and I would not be happy to move “home.” But I moved to a small town in a small state, and I work in another small community. There is something in youth that wants to free itself from what it knows, even if it winds up somewhere almost exactly like where it knows.

I’ve argued before on here that Berlin needs to retain its youth, but after the discussion last night I think that’s wrong. Berlin needs to recruit youth, not retain youth. The best and brightest should leave the area. That’s what any parent wants their child to do. And as long as there are an equal number of people of a similar age migrating to the area it doesn’t matter. The essence is to keep the population demographics the same.

I can list several young people who went away, got educated and came home to Coös County. Samantha Kenney Maltais, for one, keeps coming back to educate people about Grand branding. The city planner, Pam Laflamme, invested in herself and brought that investment home.

But the vast majority of young people with creativity and vision come from somewhere else. They are running away from small towns in Maine, Connecticut, New York in the same way that kids are running away from Berlin, Groveton and Stark. The problem, thus far, is that Coös County is a net exporting region.

But it answers a fundamental question about how to solve the problem: do you try to convince the kids of Berlin they want to come back, or do you put your efforts elsewhere?

If I were a parent I wouldn’t want my kids to stay, but that isn’t a function of being in Berlin. Even in Conway, where I live, my friends who have lived there all their lives consider it a dump, while people who moved there think it’s great. There is a lack of perspective when one place is all you know, and whether they are my kids or not I would encourage them to explore.

But for people from away, this place holds something different. Perhaps that’s why some of the most ardent supporters of change in Berlin, from Katie Paine to Councilors McCue and Cayer, are from somewhere else, even if that place is very much like here.

The kids in the area need support, and programs that open them up to other experiences are invaluable, but the goal should be on how to get them to explore, not on how they will become the next North Country. The next North Country, like it or not, will be built of people relocating from away. When the federal prison arrives there will be a wave of changes and new faces, representing the start of what’s next. Berlin is going to have to fight to preserve its heritage, but at the same time it will likely be swept upward by the effects.

I went to a fire scene today up in Dummer, and spoke to a man who just lost the house he’d lived in since 1941. He cried as he told me how kind people have been. I was struck then, as I often am north of the notch, at his willingness to speak to me, a stranger, and at the amount of support that was gathered in his son’s kitchen. Those characteristics are hard to maintain in the 21st century as communities become more and more, and it is an asset Coös County doesn’t yet know how to capitalize on. Unlike many other places around the state and the country, that community has a long way to go before it is diluted.

Berlin still attracts people to come home. No one likes the poor people Berlin has attracted, but the city has also attracted civic-minded people. Think about Councilor Landry, who moved to Berlin with his wife and two kids. People of all types move here for what Berlin offers, and it is likely that trend will continue.

But be prepared; the changes might be rough. With revitalization comes destruction, if of nothing else than of the ways that were the standard before. I don’t see much change of Berlin remaining the quiet, insulated community it is no matter what. The prison will bring new people, the NSP program will create new houses, and the ATV trail will bring new business. Unless Berlin never turns around it will likely sacrifice some of the characteristics that make it so special.

I imagine Conway was once that way—a sleepy town where everyone knew everyone. What progress means depends on your definition, and in Berlin whether you want it depends on your connections to the past. I am looking forward to seeing the city grow, but my history here doesn’t run deep. As each new resident moves in and each grown child decides to leave, little by little Berlin rises up and changes forever. I love watching it. Do you?

A day of it

Today was a bit of a strange day as a result of the crazy weather. Instead of my normal Monday routine in Berlin I got rained out, only to go to council and put in almost a full day there. Councilors were discussing the rules and policies, which wound up taking nearly three hours. I got home at 11 p.m. and spent another hour writing up the story so it can show up in Wednesday’s paper.

It was quite a show to watch the remnants of the old council and the new members work together. Councilors Robert Danderson, Micheal Rozak and Mayor Paul Grenier dominated much of the conversation early in the night, which pertained to bridge maintenance and sewer construction. Councilor Mark Evans made his mark during the policies discussion, which lasted for several hours.

But then at the end, when Councilor Danderson said he’d like to have one of the councilors who supported writing a letter to the Site Evaluation Committee regarding Clean Power Development rescind their support, the councilors spoke largely in unison. Councilor Lucie Remillard, who I have not noticed to be particularly attached to either the CPD or the Laidlaw camp, said she didn’t want to do anything that might disrupt CPD’s efforts, though the council shouldn’t fight their battles for them. Councilor Evans and Poulin didn’t speak up in favor of supporting CPD’s efforts to move forward without SEC review, but Councilors McCue, Landry, Cayer and Remillard did.

In the end, so did Mayor Grenier. He said he had concerns about the project, but to try to stop it at this point would send an anti-business message around the state.

This is an interesting time for the council—significant transitions all over the place. Mayor Grenier seems intent on running a tight ship, which appealed to several councilors from the last administration. He also made what seemed like deliberate attempts to extend the olive branch. I’m not sure if his comments about CPD count as the latter, or if, as he said, he reached some agreement with Mel Liston of CPD when the two men met on Sunday.

Regardless, I’m interested to see how this plays out. As Councilor Evans said, the clarification of the new rules may be useful when the council gets down to business because there may be a number of close decisions. Keeping to the rules will be key to ensuring residents get the governance they voted for.

LPJ is also on its next step, and I’m hoping it’s a step upwards. I started the blog because I knew I’d need to have one if I ever want a job somewhere else. I don’t want a job somewhere else, but someday I will and now is the time to prepare. Well, the next step after a blog (and a Twitter account) is a website. Check. Granted, I’ve still got more work to do, but it’s passable. I particularly like the header—it reminds me of this great place I go from time to time.

No Jobs?

Two and a half weeks ago a representative from the U.S. Census Bureau came to the council meeting to ask the councilors for ideas about how to find people willing to work. She informed the council she was having a hard time filling the more than 100 temporary positions the Census Bureau had open for people willing to knock on doors this spring to collect basic demographic information, and she was looking for any possible assistance. The council directed her to the employment office, which she said she’d already been to. They gave her a few more suggestions, but largely they had no idea.
The Census bureau website describes the jobs: “These short-term jobs offer good pay, flexible hours, paid training, and reimbursement…”
$15 per hour plus mileage for about two months starting in April. The training starts in February. That’s not bad, at least for a few months. The requirements are you have to be at least 18, a U.S. citizen, and you have to pass a written test, which the woman from the census bureau said wasn’t difficult. The website calls it, “a multiple-choice test of basic skills.”
Nevertheless, the woman said, the Bureau is having trouble finding people to fill the jobs.
That surprised me. Honestly, when she said $15 an hour on a flexible schedule several of us looked at each other and discussed car pooling. That seems like a great offer. I knock on doors all the time for work; what’s a few hours more?

It struck me as odd that these jobs would be so quickly passed over. After all the talk of jobs in the last municipal election, here are more than a hundred jobs open to almost anyone in Berlin, and they can’t fill their ranks. Is it that Berlin needs jobs, or that people want better jobs? The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Berlin (last updated in November 2009) is 8 percent. Considering the national rate is above 10 percent, that’s not bad. It certainly doesn’t compare to Pittsburgh (11.2 percent), Stark (11.5 percent), Colebrook (13.9 percent), Stewartstown (15.7 percent) or Stratford (18.2 percent). There’s been so much discussion about jobs, I had to wonder how dire the need is in Berlin if people aren’t coming out for these ones.
Maybe Berlin has an underemployment problem, not an unemployment problem. Maybe people don’t want to quit working for minimum wage to make double their paycheck for a couple of months. That makes more sense, but with flexible hours and the legendary Berlin work ethic that hardly explains this situation away.
I am confused. It caught me off guard to hear about these jobs remaining vacant. It seems in this economy, in this region, people would gobble up such opportunities. Are people just not hearing about them? Do they have some aversion to working for the U.S. Government? (That doesn’t make sense—people seem interested in the federal prison.) Are they the wrong kind of jobs? I know they are temporary and without benefits, but I would think when you need work what the job is wouldn’t matter. Maybe for some people it does, particularly after they are accustomed to a certain level of income.
It struck me as strange, a phenomenon worth noting. If anyone has any insights I’d love to hear them. I’ve seen how hard Berliners are willing to work, so to me it just doesn’t add up. Maybe someone can explain the arithmetic.

Politics As Usual?

So I’ve kind of been out of the loop with the whole vacation and everything, but I’m starting to get back into things. In case you only stop in to read LPJ from time to time, there has been a vigorous debate going on in the comments pertaining to Laidlaw and Mayor Paul Grenier.
Laidlaw’s application was rejected by the SEC last week. They have indicated the issues should be sorted out quickly. The Sierra Club has also joined Clean Power Development and several private citizens in asking the SEC to reject the application, although at this point I’m not sure what that means as it already has been rejected.
Mayor Grenier thanked representatives from Laidlaw at the at his inaugural address, and he sounded rather authoritarian in his speech when he warned people not to try to derail the project.
Mayor Grenier does not have veto power or the ability to ram policy past opponents, some of with are resolute as in their beliefs as he is. The Laidlaw application was found wanting in several areas, and my understanding of the law is they have 10 days to rectify the issues before they have to reapply (anyone with a better understanding feel free to chime in). This may mean pitched battles in council and another substantial waiting period before SEC review.
Discussion about the merits of the project, its future and its developer, or the policies, rhetoric and outlook of the new mayor, are worthwhile discussions for a city to have. Honestly, I’d love to have every resident of Berlin chime in on how they feel about these issues. I wish there were some polling organization capable of truly gauging the feelings of residents. There isn’t, however, and the discussions are often behind the faceless veil of the Internet, which isn’t always conducive to honest discourse.

I have to say, however, I am happy to see people engaged. I wish all of Berlin cared the way people on LPJ seem to. I do not, by any means, have the answers for Berlin. My perspective is only one, and it is of limited experience and without deep roots in the city’s past. I recognize that at times that is a hindrance, but it is also an asset. I don’t know what former Mayor Robert Danderson was like when he chaired the council. I don’t know what Mayor Grenier was like before I met him several months ago. I don’t know what Councilor Michael Rozak was like when he was on the school board. I wasn’t around when Laidlaw first came to town, or when CPD first came to town, or when former Mayor David Bertrand was elected two years ago.
I know Berlin since I started working there in May 2009. What I see is a city with problems, but with a core of dedicated people willing to work and sacrifice to find solutions. They don’t agree on what solution works best, but they all agree that Berlin is a wonderful place worth fighting for. And I’m right there with them.

There is more to every story than I have reported. There is more to every political deal than has made it into any paper, or onto any website. I would love to find verifiable sources for all of this information and get it out there so the community can make more informed decisions, but it isn’t all sitting on my desk. I do what I can, and I’ve been able to break several stories involving biomass and politics. Do I get them all? No. But as one reporter covering the entire city I figure I do OK.
I take tips, and not the waitstaff kind, but I take them with a grain of salt. What are the motivations behind any information I get? Can I verify it independently? Will someone go on record and talk to me about it? That’s the guidelines I work with in the paper. Here, on LPJ, I am a little looser because this is my personal blog, but I still work to maintain a level of professionalism the citizens of northern New Hampshire deserve. I report leads I get, and I work to get more information up quickly as it comes in. I hope people find this valuable and worth reading.

In the end, what I hope LPJ does is foster discussion. I don’t have any answers, but I enjoy sharing my opinion. I invite anyone to do the same. I have had a sharp commentary from time to time (usually due to a late council meeting) but I refrain from personal attacks. Whether you dislike Jon Edwards’ rhetoric or that of the new mayor, I’d appreciate it if people focused on the substance of the commentary and not the person. It is hard to compromise with someone who just insulted you, or who you just insulted.
I do respect people’s right to disagree with me, or even to make points on my blog about why my opinion may be obtuse. It may be—I am not immune to illogical thinking (my wife can attest to that). But sign your name, do it respectfully, and further the overall conversation. Berlin is an amazing community. The debates about biomass and about politics will likely last for the next decade, as these projects and others move through the world. Residents need to be informed. I have no desire to proselytize. I would even entertain thoughtful commentaries from anyone who wished to submit one. But please maintain civility, it makes the conversation go much smoother.

And also, if you know anyone in the area who doesn’t care one way or the other about these important issues, try to engage them. The future of Berlin is at stake, and it should be the residents who decide where it goes. One argument is people were asleep at the wheel and elected Mayor Grenier against their best interests. The other is they diligently steered the car that is Berlin Mayor Grenier’s way. I am not about to guess which it is, and I don’t know that it does any good for anyone else in Berlin to do it either. The registered voters of Berlin made their decision, and now it will play out for the next two years. Keep struggling for what you feel is important, and hopefully in the end all of Berlin will come out on top.

Off to a BIDPA meeting. Hopefully I’ll see you in Berlin.

One Less Trail

The Bureau of Trails announced last week they will not turn a section the Presidential Rail Trial, or PRT, into an ATV trail for now. The announcement caused an audible sigh of relief in Randolph, where residents organized to protest the proposal. The proposal didn’t include opening up the PRT beyond Jimtown Road in Gorham, but Randolph residents said they were concerned riders would continue beyond the legal boundary. Many said they already do.
The clear divisions about this issue, depending on where people live, make for an interesting picture of the challenges that will face the North Country in the future.
In November Berlin opened city streets to ATVs, and there was a lot of celebration that this effort finally bore fruit. A few months later Randolph residents celebrated with a similar enthusiasm, but their’s was because they succeeded in keeping the trails closed to ATVs. What a difference 10 miles makes.
Residents consider the North Country a region, but in the typical New Hampshire sense—not united enough to impinge anyone’s freedoms. Protecting all those individual freedoms, however, has it’s communal costs, which the region has experienced for decades.

I used to work at an ambulance service as an EMT. The bulk of the community we covered was two towns geographically comparable to Berlin and Gorham. There was a distinct distrust between the two towns I could never understand, to the point where fire departments were reluctant to call each other for aid. The ambulance and school systems were integrated, but not the fire or water department, and I could never understand why. I was 19 or 20 at the time, but even then it seemed more was wasted than gained in such a rivalry. Memories that went back further than mine seemed convinced this was the only way to do things; I was never so sure.
Someone told me Berlin/Gorham is in many ways more attached to Maine than New Hampshire. The mountains formed a barrier, they said, and the river acted as a highway when the communities were young. The Lewiston Sun Journal used to report heavily on what happened in Berlin/Gorham some time ago, backing up that claim. It makes sense: as you go north from Brunswick along the Androscoggin you hit mill town after mill town. Berlin would have been one more along the line.
I grew up in Maine and went to college there, though I’ve lived in the Conway area for the last seven years. The differences between the two states are pretty stark, and so understanding which had more influence on the region is critical to understand how to attack the problems facing it. New Hampshire is about the individual. Live free or die does not imply disparate communities banding together, impinging upon their individual freedoms, for the common good. The mill mentality, however, and the isolation Berlin has endured for a century, have always stuck me as much more willing to pull together for the good of the community. Someone told me in an isolated region like Berlin you don’t have the privileged of ignoring your neighbor, so you learn how to get along.
But how far does that extend? Driving from Lancaster to Errol makes it hard to consider Coös County a cohesive unit. The distances aren’t huge, but the terrain is, and all of the sudden lumping solutions into one big initiative becomes daunting.
But the alternative is for many communities to fend for themselves. Groveton and Errol don’t have many of the assets the Berlin/Gorham corridor has; what will become of them if such efforts are abandoned?
But what is most troubling is the inability for communities minutes apart to reach a consensus on what they are going to do to survive. Berlin, Gorham, Randolph, Shelburne, Milan and Dummer are a region unto themselves. They are the Androscoggin Valley, and what ensures the survival of one ensures the survival of them all. The socioeconomic disparities may convince some people they can divest themselves of this connection, but as Randolph residents are learning with the closure of the Gorham Rite Aid and Shaws, even if their community isn’t in decline the ramifications of the valley as a whole affects them. For wealthy residents it means they have to travel to Berlin or Lancaster to fulfill their prescriptions; for poorer residents it might mean they lose their job.

Berlin, Gorham, Randolph, Shelburne, Milan and Dummer don’t have to agree on everything. ATVs are clearly more divisive in some communities than others, and it wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interests to shove a solution down an adjacent community’s throat. But the Androscoggin Valley has to unify enough to approach the problems it faces head on, with every municipality on board. The future of the Gorham mill, with it’s 200 plus jobs, is uncertain, and the region can ill afford to let the petty differences derail their future for the next century.

More Work Than Energy

Well, biomass undoubtedly going to stay a hot topic for while now, between the SEC rejecting Laidlaw’s initial application and the petition hearing on whether CPD should go through the same review process. It’s an interesting environment. I wonder if the fierce fighting could keep either project from coming to fruition. Seems possible.

I wanted to mention the massive turnout I saw last night at the city’s contractors meeting. Andre Caron, city housing coordinator, told me earlier in the day he was expecting between 20 and 25 contractors to attend a meeting about the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
The city hall auditorium was packed when the meeting started at 6:30 p.m.; I counted around 150 people. More people came in late, so I don’t know how many were there in total, but Mr. Caron was running out of handouts.

The NSP is a stimulus program for Berlin: the $2.5 million, which has to be distributed by September 9, will be a massive influx into the local economy. Whether local contractors win the jobs (federal rules stipulate the city has to give the project to the low bidder) or out of town contractors do the work, they will spend money locally. It can bridge the gap until the federal prison opens, and hopefully until some other economic engine opens in the area (biomass, tourism, whatever). It will give people jobs, which is exactly what the area needs.

I do wonder about increasing the amount of low and moderate income housing for the city. Those types of properties seem well represented already. I know there has been talk of the “broken window effect” in many of the neighborhoods slated for renovation and rehabilitation. That’s the idea that when there are a few broken windows in a neighborhood it’s a clear indication that the rule of law is generally ignored there, and people tend to let everywhere nearby go. Malcolm Gladwell argues that’s what happened in NYC during the 1980s in The Tipping Point. I tend to agree more with the authors of Freakonomics, who don’t put much weight behind the theory, but I’m happy to see things get cleaned up. Will rehabbing the properties improve the neighborhoods if transients keep moving in for the cheap rent? Maybe. Increasing the number of units might lower the rents, increasing inflow of low income people. With good building management, however, it may not be unreasonable to new residents with open arms, regardless of their income level.
The condition of urban low income properties vary widely from city to city—some are ghettos and some are nice places to live. Berlin, though it is the woods of northern New Hampshire, has to treat its multi-units as if they were in Boston or New York. On the wall in the police station is a flyer on how to recognize gang colors and gang tattoos. It isn’t a joke, and it isn’t something simply rehabilitating buildings will solve.

Berlin does a poor job cleaning the on-street parking after a snowstorm, but does the job with very limited resources. The police commission was defending their budget to Councilor Mark Evans last week because they said they have to ensure the city stays safe. They too have very limited resources. Same with the fire department, and same with the schools. I spoke with a school official months ago who said the influx of low income students has been a real burden, but it isn’t something they can control. Anyone can move to Berlin that wants to, and the city is required to provide an adequate education. That can be a tough spot to be in, particularly around budget time.

What will the renovations and the demolitions do about these problems? It’s unclear, but it’s the best the city can hope for. It will improve property values, although that may just mean you pay more in property taxes. But if it can remove the air of blight from some of these neighborhoods, it might build more of a city people want to move to. It is hard, after spending any length of time in Berlin, not to recognize the positive side the city has to offer, but it takes only a drive through town to notice the negatives. This work will address many of those negatives, remove them and hopefully forever move past them. This is one more step in the right direction. Granted, I covered the shooting two months ago, and just last week someone was beat with a baseball bat, but these are not the cities defining characteristics. They stick out in Berlin, perhaps because of the broken windows. If the city were pretty it would be a little bit easier to ignore the ugliness. Deaths, thefts and assaults in Conway don’t keep people away, but in Berlin they fit the mold. If nothing else, maybe $2.5 million dollars can change the mold, so someone can see a positive Berlin on the first visit, instead of discovering it on the third.